Goodrich-In a special meeting Monday night the board of education voted 6-1 to retain the services of the Michigan Leadership Institute to coordinate the search for a district superintendent following the resignation of John Fazer on March 26.
Trustee Jeff Gardner voted no.
Fazer’s last day as superintendent will be June 30 and the board is hoping to have a new superintendent in place by June 15’overlapping the position by two weeks. The time is necessary, say school board members, to help with the transition process. Fazer was hired by the board in May 2009 and earns about $130,000 per year.
The board deliberated for more than two hours regarding the search and also considered coordinating the efforts internally.
The board selected the Michigan Leadership Institute at a cost of $6,700. The other companies were NorthStar Staffing with a bid of $4,000 and the Michigan Association of School Boards at $7,300.
Tim Zirnhelt, school board president, said he will contact MLI this week.
‘We’ll notify MLI so they can get a feel for what we’re looking for’I’ll ask for a better price and see if they can come down,? he said. ‘I’ll let them know there are other prices and companies out there.?
Gardner disagreed.
‘We can post the job opening ourselves the first week,? said Gardner. ‘We’re going to have the same candidates as the search firms. All the information regarding the search firms was pretty much the same and we did not select the least expensive company. They all pretty much have the same services’it troubles me that none of the search firms attended the (school board) meeting on Monday night. I see the advantages of having a search firm to do background searches and check references. We need to have leverage to find the best price.?
A special meeting is set for 6 p.m., April 9 to further discuss the interview process.